Psychology News and Research

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Psychology is the study of human mental functions, behavior and processes.

Fatigue during radiotherapy for breast or prostate cancer may be caused by inflammation

Patients who experience fatigue during radiotherapy for breast or prostate cancer may be reacting to activation of the proinflammatory cytokine network, a known inflammatory pathway, according to a report in Clinical Cancer Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

19 Aug 2009

Running and addiction

Although exercise is good for your health, extreme exercise may be physically addicting. Rats given a drug that produces withdrawal in heroin addicts went into withdrawal after running excessively in exercise wheels, according to new research. Rats that ran the hardest had the most severe withdrawal symptoms.

17 Aug 2009

Researchers study sleep paralysis

Professor Chris French, has co-authored a paper on sleep paralysis with Julia Santomauro, both of the Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths, University of London, which is published in Issue 22 (August 2009) of The Psychologist.

14 Aug 2009

Decreased cravings for pleasure may be at root of a core symptom of major depressive disorder

Decreased motivation to seek and experience pleasurable experiences, known as anhedonia, is a primary symptom of major depressive disorder. Anhedonia is less responsive to many antidepressants and often persists after other symptoms of depression subside. However, understanding the different components of anhedonia - the desire to obtain something pleasurable versus experiencing pleasure - has been difficult for researchers to determine in humans.

12 Aug 2009

Massage therapy eases sickle cell disease pain in children

Massage offers both physical and psychological benefits and is used at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in many areas including Rehabilitation, Physical Medicine and in patients who have received organ transplants, just to name a few. Researchers at Nationwide Children’s recently published a study in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology that revealed the benefits of massage in reducing pain, anxiety and depression in children with Sickle Cell Disease.

12 Aug 2009

Only the best looking men tempt women into casual sex

Men are far more interested in casual sex than women. While men need to be exceptionally attractive to tempt women to consider casual sex, men are far less choosy. These findings by Dr Achim Schützwohl, from the Department of Psychology at Brunel University in the UK, and his team are published online in Springer's journal Human Nature.

11 Aug 2009

Recruitment of new neurons slows when old brain cells kept from dying

Recruitment of new neurons slows when old brain cells kept from dying. Like clockwork, brain regions in many songbird species expand and shrink seasonally in response to hormones.

11 Aug 2009

Research shows how schizophrenia works in the brain

Schizophrenia waits silently until a seemingly normal child becomes a teenager or young adult. Then it swoops down and derails a young life.

11 Aug 2009

Stress about school and life keeps 68 percent of students awake at night

Not only that, more than 60 percent of college students have disturbed sleep-wake patterns and many take drugs and alcohol regularly to help them do one or the other.

10 Aug 2009

Sharing prescription advice among adolescents can have dangerous repercussions

What if a teenager with acne who is taking Accutane - a drug linked to birth defects - gives some to her friend, who is pregnant but does not yet realize it? Unfortunately, this is a realistic scenario.

10 Aug 2009

People in power demonstrate more abstract interpretation of crisis events

A newly completed New York University study of public reaction to the 9/11 attacks concludes that people in positions of power, from government officials to managers working on Wall Street to military personnel, tended to interpret the events in more abstract terms and with more certainty and positivity than ordinary individuals.

10 Aug 2009

Psychologists say longer lives can still lead to happier years

As more people live well into their 80s and 90s, it's reassuring to know that most people get happier as they age and exert more emotional control than younger adults, according to researchers who spoke at the 117th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association.

9 Aug 2009

Psychology of weight regulation - eating, exercise, and body image

Childhood obesity has quadrupled in the last 40 years, which may mean today's children become the first generation to have a shorter lifespan than their parents, a leading obesity expert told the American Psychological Association on Saturday.

9 Aug 2009

Maltreated young adults not receiving needed mental health services

Mental health problems among young adults suspected of being maltreated as youths often go untreated as they transition to adulthood, according to a study by researchers at RTI International.

9 Aug 2009

New journal integrates the science of medicine with the art of music

In response to a recent surge in studies that integrate medicine and music, SAGE, the world's leading independent academic and professional publisher, is pleased to launch Music and Medicine in July, a new interdisciplinary journal that will incorporate the research that combines the two disciplines.

9 Aug 2009

Kids who drink heavily more likely to engage in heavy smoking

As teens head back to school, health teachers may want to revise their lesson plans. Temple researchers have found that kids who engage in heavy drinking will more than likely also engage in heavy smoking, and they say educators can help combat the trend by addressing both topics as one health risk.

9 Aug 2009

Doctors create program to help providers adjust to rural work settings

group of doctors has created a post-doctorate program to provide rural communities with a pipeline of providers, The Iowa Independent reports.

7 Aug 2009

The prediction, from infancy, of adult IQ and achievement

Infants who excel at processing new information at 6- and 12-months-old, typically excel in intelligence and academic achievements as young adults in their 20's, according to a study directed by Case Western Reserve University Psychologist Joseph Fagan.

7 Aug 2009

Botanicals do not have an effect on hot flashes or on cognitive function in menopausal women

Two studies conducted by researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago and Northwestern University have found that commonly used botanicals do not have an effect on hot flashes or on cognitive function in menopausal women.

6 Aug 2009

Biological mechanisms contribute to stress resilience

It is important to understand what biological mechanisms contribute to an individual’s capacity to be resilient under conditions of extreme stress, such as those regularly experienced by soldiers, police, and firefighters.

5 Aug 2009